Take Care How You Listen! Part 1

For Whoever Has, to Him More Shall be Given

When a large crowd was coming together, and those from
the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a
parable: 5 "The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed,
some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the
birds of the air ate it up. 6 Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as
soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7
Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it
and choked it out. 8 Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew
up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great." As He said these
things, He would call out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
9 His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable
meant. 10 And He said, "To you it has been granted to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables,
so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT
UNDERSTAND. 11 Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of
God. 12 Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the
devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they
will not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rocky soil are those
who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no
firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall
away. 14 The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones
who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with
worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit
to maturity. 15 But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones
who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it
fast, and bear fruit with perseverance. 16 Now no one after
lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a
bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may
see the light. 17 For nothing is hidden that will not become
evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to
light. 18 So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more
shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he
has shall be taken away from him."

How Do We Prepare for Preaching and How Do We Respond?

Last week we asked the question why preaching has such a
prominent place in the corporate worship services of the church.
This week and next week we ask: How should the people prepare for
preaching and how should we respond to preaching? To answer this
question I have chosen a text that is all about hearing the word of
God preached. So the first thing I want to do is show you that this
is indeed the case - this text is all about hearing the word of God
when it is preached.

It's a very sobering text for preachers, because it does not
hold out the prospect of huge success in terms of numbers of people
who are lastingly affected - one in four, perhaps (like the soils),
if you take the text that way. I doubt that the proportion should
be pressed to mean that we can always or only expect a 25% lasting
response. But surely, Jesus is at least warning us preachers from
being cocky, lest we think we can change people easily, or
discouraged, if there are many hearers who do not respond with
lasting change.

Is Preaching an Effective Way of Communicating?

Sometimes people will say that the day of preaching is over
because it is not an effective way of changing people. The answer
is: It has never been statistically very effective. Nor has any
other form of communication, statistically. And the reason is not
in the method of communication. The reason is Matthew 7:14, "The
gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there
are few who find it." Which is why Jesus said, in Luke 13:24,
"Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you,
will seek to enter and will not be able." When the Word is preached
and the way to life is shown, strive to enter.

That is what this text is about. It's about hearing and yet not
hearing. Seeing and yet not seeing. It's about those who think they
have heard, but have not heard. And so it is all about how to
prepare for preaching and how to respond to preaching.

Let me show you this so you can see it for yourselves. May God
give us eyes to see and ears to hear and good hearts to bear fruit.
What we are doing now - and do every Sunday in these moments - is
huge and has eternal implications for what you do with what you
hear.

Start in verse 5 with the beginning of the parable of the soils:
Jesus tells a parable that begins, "The sower went out to sow his
seed." Then in verse 11 he interprets: "Now the parable is this:
the seed is the word of God." So he is telling a parable about the
preaching and hearing of the Word of God. The sower is the one who
preaches the Word.

A Parable About Hearing

Then there are four responses to this preaching of the Word -
four kinds of soil. What we want to notice especially is that Jesus
interprets every one of them explicitly as four ways of hearing the
Word. It's all about hearing.

Verse 5 says that, first, some seed - some Word - "fell beside
the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air
ate it up." Then in verse 12 he interprets, "Those beside the road
are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the
word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved."
That's one kind of hearing.

Verse 6 says that "Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as
it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture." Then
verse 13 interprets: "Those on the rocky soil are those who, when
they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root;
they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away."
That's a second kind of hearing.

Verse 7 says that "Other seed fell among the thorns; and the
thorns grew up with it and choked it out." Verse 14 interprets:
"The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have
heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and
riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity."
That's a third kind of hearing.

Finally, verse 8 says, "Other seed fell into the good soil, and
grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great." And verse
15 interprets: "But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones
who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it
fast, and bear fruit with perseverance." That's a fourth kind of
hearing.

He Who Has Ears to Hear

Then at the end of verse 8 Jesus makes sure we got the point
about hearing, and says, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
That means it's not enough to have ears on the side of your head.
Everybody has those. But there is another kind of ear that only
some people have. And those can hear. "He who has ears to hear let
him hear." There is a spiritual ear, or a heart-ear. There is an
ear that hears, in the preaching of the Word, more than mere words.
There is a beauty and a truth and a power that these ears hear as
compelling and transforming and preserving. That's the kind of
hearing Jesus is calling for. That's what this text is about.

Then to stress the issue of hearing even more, Luke tells us how
Jesus explained the purpose of parables in his situation. In verses
9-10, "his disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable
meant. And He said, 'To you it has been granted to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables,
so that "seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not
understand."'" This is a shocking word. To those whom Jesus has
chosen, the mystery of his kingdom is opened and he gives them the
gift of understanding. Verse 10a: "To you it has been granted to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of God." Understanding the
kingdom of God is a free gift of God for those whom Jesus has
chosen as his disciples.

But then he says (in verse 10b) that for the others the reason
for his parables is "so that seeing they may not see and hearing
they may not understand." The issue is hearing again. "Hearing they
may not understand." That means there are two kinds of hearing: one
with the physical ears of the head and one with the spiritual ears
of the heart. "Hearing (with the physical ears), they do not
understand (with the spiritual ears). And this he says, is one of
the reasons he uses parables - "so that" hearing, they may not
understand. In other words, the parables are part of Jesus'
concealing and hardening ministry as well as part of his revealing
and saving ministry.

The Word Saves Some and Hardens Some

This hard word is a quote from Isaiah 6:9-10 where God tells
Isaiah his ministry to Israel will not only be saving for some but
hardening for others. God says to Isaiah, "Go, and tell this
people: 'Keep on listening, but do not perceive; keep on looking,
but do not understand.' Render the hearts of this people
insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they
might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with
their hearts, and return and be healed." In other words, time had
run out for these people and the Word of God was no longer
effective to save
them, but was only effective to render their
hearts insensitive, and their ears dull, and their eyes dim.

This teaches us something very important about preaching. Even
when preaching the Word of God does not soften and save and heal,
it is not necessarily ineffective. This preaching of the Word may
be doing God's terrible work of judgment. It may be hardening
people, and making their ears so dull that they will never want to
hear again. There is a judgment in this world - not just in the
world to come (Romans 1:24) - and oh, how we should flee from it.
Which in this text means: take heed how you hear! Don't be cavalier
in the hearing of God's Word week after week. If it is not
softening and saving and healing and bearing fruit, it is probably
hardening and blinding and dulling (see 2 Corinthians 2:16).

The Effectiveness of Hearing

Which brings us to the last mention of hearing in this text. It
comes in a surprising place. I would have expected it to come right
after the parable - right after verse 15. But it comes in verse 18:
"So [= therefore, the conclusion of the matter] take care how you
listen [hear!]" That's the point of the text. And that's my main
point this morning. Take care how you hear. Preaching is one thing
- and it is crucial. But hearing is another thing - and it is just
as crucial. There is nothing in this text about the effectiveness
of preaching. It is all about the effectiveness of hearing. The
point is not, "Take heed how you preach." But: "Take heed how you
hear."

Now notice the reason given in the rest of verse 18 for why you
should be so vigilant over how you hear. It says, "For [= because]
whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have,
even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him." Now what
does that refer to?

Whoever Has . . .

Well, there are two parts, the positive ("whoever has, to him
more shall be given") and the negative ("whoever does not have,
even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him").

Take the positive first: "Whoever has, to him more shall be
given."

This refers first back to verse 8, at the end of the parable of
the soils. Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Why? Because "whoever has, to him more shall be given. If you have
spiritual ears, then you will be given understanding. It also
refers to the fourth soil described in verse 15: "The seed in the
good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest
and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with
perseverance." Whoever has, to him more will be given. What they
have already is "an honest and good heart." And the more that will
be given is fruit. They "bear fruit with perseverance."

So take heed how you hear! Hear with spiritual ears, not just
the ears on your head. And hear with an honest and good heart, not
a deceptive and evil heart.

"Whoever does not have"

But now look at the negative half of verse 18: "Whoever does not
have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him."
What does that refer to? It refers to the other three soils and the
failure to hear with a good heart and with true spiritual ears. In
each of the first three soils (verses 12-14) there is a hearing of
the Word of God. But in each case what they think they have, is
taken away from them.

Verse 12, the first soil: they think they have the Word, but the
devil snatches it away. Verse 13, the second soil: they think they
have the Word and true spiritual faith and joy, but they have no
root to sustain them in time of trial. Their faith is a superficial
enthusiasm that is real only for fair weather days. And so when the
trial comes, what they think they have is taken away. Finally, in
verse 14, the third soil: they think they have the Word of God, but
when the worries and riches and pleasures of life come, what they
think they have is taken away, and they fail to bear fruit.

So the point of verse 18 is to interpret what was happening in
the four soils. Three times it comes true: "Whoever does not have,
even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him." And one
time - the fourth soil - the opposite comes true: "Whoever has, to
him more shall be given." If you hear with an honest and good heart
(v. 15) then more will be given to you.

Next week I will try to answer the question why the sayings
about the lamp and the lampstand (verses 16-17) are sandwiched
between the interpretation of the parable of the soils and its
practical conclusion in verse 18.

Take Heed How You Hear

But for now the main point is clear and very urgent: "Take heed
how you hear!" To the one who has more will be given. Do you have
ears to hear? Do you have a new heart?

I'm going to talk very practically next week on how you prepare
yourself to hear like this. But this morning I simply want the
weight of it to land on us. Hearing is huge. I believe with all my
heart that I am called to preach the Word of God. And many of you
are called to teach it in various settings. But this text is about
another great calling - the calling to hear the Word of God. And it
is no small thing. The stakes are very high. There is a hearing
that barely gets started and the Word is gone before you get out
the door. There is a hearing that lasts until there is a hard time
in life, and then one turns from God to other messages. There is a
hearing that flourishes until the riches and pleasures of this life
choke it off. And there is a hearing that defeats the devil,
endures trial, scorns riches and bears fruit unto eternal life.

That is the hearing we want. Let's ask God for it. Psalm 40:6
says that God opens the ear to hear: "Sacrifice and meal offering
You have not desired; my ears You have opened." So let us pray.
Just like we prayed back during prayer week, "Open my eyes, that I
may behold Wonderful things from Your law" (Psalm 119:18), so let
us now pray, "Open my ears, that I may hear the Word of God, with
an honest and good heart and be saved (Luke 8:12) and bear
fruit.

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

Share the Joy! You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in physical form, in its entirety or in unaltered excerpts, as long as you do not charge a fee. For posting online, please use only unaltered excerpts (not the content in its entirety) and provide a hyperlink to this page. For videos, please embed from the original source. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Desiring God.